It is said that Shurangama Sutra will be first be destroyed during Dharma ending again, and lastly of course Sutra of Infinite Life (Amitabha Sutra). Why? Because Shurangama is like a freak-mirror. I sincerely do not want to offend anyone, but in regard to enlightenment via sex is definitely not Buddha's teachings. In Dependent Origination, Birth is what perpetuates the chains of death and rebirth. Birth is basically sex or lust. This desire is very deep rooted. I am sorry to say that a monk or laymen cannot use sex to wish for fruitions of Tathgatha. The desire and the thought of lust has to be destroyed before you can realize enlightenment.

Sutra:The Buddha told Ananda, “You constantly hear me explainin the Vinaya that there are three unalterable aspects tocultivation. That is, collecting one’s thoughts constitutes theprecepts; from the precepts comes samadhi; and out of samadhiarises wisdom. Samadhi arises from precepts, and wisdom isrevealed out of samadhi. These are called the ‘Three Non-Outflow Studies.’

Commentary:When everyone in the assembly had agreed to uphold theteaching, the Buddha told Ananda, “You constantly hear meexplain in the Vinaya that there are three unalterable aspects tocultivation.” The Vinaya includes the rules for both the greater andlesser vehicles. It discusses the precepts. These three fixed aspectsare unalterable. “That is, collecting one’s thoughts constitutesthe precepts.” These three are precepts, samadhi, and wisdom. Youcollect and maintain your thoughts, just as a magnet collects ironfilings. This refers especially to our thoughts that “climb onconditions” – that take advantage of situations. When thesethoughts take control, one is always paying attention to otherpeople. One is continually thinking up ways to draw near towealthy people or people in positions of authority. Such thoughtsgo on and on all day long. That’s called “climbing on conditions;”it means that one has not collected one’s thoughts. Collect thosethoughts. Don’t let them take advantage of situations. Don’t letthem run out at random. But our mind is such that it runs away withus, even if we don’t want it to. We may forbid it to have falsethinking, but in the next moment another false thought comes up.One ceases and the next one begins. The first thought dissolves, butthe next one is already on its way. And before that one iscompletely gone, the next one has arisen. The mind that climbs onconditions never ceases. What you must do is to collect andmaintain your thoughts. Bring your mind back to one point. Thewhole reason we can’t become Buddhas, can’t become enlightened,can’t awaken to the Way, is that we do not have control of our mind.If you get your thoughts together, there is nothing you cannot do.You’ll be successful at everything. The precepts, then, are designedto collect your thoughts. Precepts put a stop to evil and preventfurther transgressions.The Three Non-Outflow Studies 9“Samadhi arises from precepts.” Holding precepts is likeholding a bottle of muddy water still, until the silt settles and thewater becomes clear. Samadhi means “not moving.” “And wisdomis revealed out of samadhi.” As Manjushri Bodhisattva’s verse said:When stillness is ultimate,the light penetrates.You become enlightened. Within samadhi, your own genuinewisdom arises. “These are called the ‘Three Non-outflowStudies.’” Guard the precepts, and from the precepts will comesamadhi. Out of samadhi will arise wisdom.

Let me explain further. To gain enlightenment (wisdom), you must follow Conducts (examples-precepts, vows)-Samadhi-Wisdom. I will say Conduct-Concentration-Meditation. Keep in mind here that the word samadhi is not limited to Chan tradition only, but Samadhi means concentration. So Pure Land, Chan, Tantra, Tien Tai, etc can reach samadhi or concentration too if practice properly and correctly. Just that in Pure Land, it's called single-minded concentration. I am sure other traditions have different ways of referring to the same thing. All is called enlightenment (wisdom) or concentration. The three cannot be separated, even after enlightenment, one still lives within conducts-concentration-wisdom.

One Must Cut Off Lust

Sutra:“Ananda, why do I call collecting one’s thoughts theprecepts? If living beings in the six paths of any mundane worldhad no thoughts of lust, they would not have to follow acontinual succession of births and deaths.

Commentary:“Ananda, why do I call collecting one’s thoughts theprecepts? Now I will tell you. If living beings in the six paths ofany mundane world had no thoughts of lust”: The six paths includegods, humans, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and beings in thehells. If they were free of thoughts of sexual desire, “They wouldnot have to follow a continual succession of births and deaths.”They could cut off birth and death.

Sutra:“Your basic purpose in cultivating is to transcend thewearisome defilements. But if you don’t renounce your lustfulthoughts, you will not be able to get out of the dust.

Commentary:The Buddha is speaking to Ananda here when he says, “Yourbasic purpose in cultivating is to transcend the wearisomedefilements.” You want to get out of birth and death. “But if youdon’t renounce your lustful thoughts, you will not be able to getout of the dust.” If you do not cut off sexual desire, it will beimpossible to get out of the mundane defilements of the world.That’s because thoughts of sexual desire are themselves defiling.They themselves are the wearisome dust. Not to speak of engagingin lustful practices, even the presence of such thoughts is unclean.If you don’t renounce sexual desire, it’s entirely unreasonable tohope to become enlightened and accomplish Buddhahood. To holdon to sexual desire on the one hand and expect to becomeenlightened on the other is the stupidest kind of thinking. Peoplewho think that way are impossible to teach. Even if ShakyamuniBuddha himself appeared in the world right now, he would have noway to bring such people to attainment of fruition. Such people arethe most dull-witted of all.

Sutra:“Even though one may have some wisdom and the manifestationof Ch’an samadhi, one is certain to enter demonic pathsif one does not cut off lust. At best, one will be a demon king; onthe average, one will be in the retinue of demons; at the lowestlevel, one will be a female demon.Commentary:“Even though one may have some wisdom and the manifestationof Ch’an samadhi, one is certain to enter demonic pathsif one does not cut off lust.” You may be wise, and when you sitdown to meditation you may experience light ease and feelextremely comfortable – that is, you can enter Ch’an samadhi. Youthink you’re wise, then? If you don’t put a stop to lust, you’ll endup a demon! “At best, one will be a demon king in the SixthDesire Heaven. On the average, one will be in the retinue ofdemons. One will become an ordinary demon. At the lowest level,one will be a female demon.” They are beautiful, but extremelycoarse. People with wisdom should be careful. Smart people shouldtake careful note of this passage. Don’t let your intelligence go backon you so that you make a mistake in the end. Don’t have theattitude: “You don’t understand, but I do. You’re not clear, but Iam.” That’s petty intelligence, petty wisdom. Don’t let a promisingfuture go to ruin.

Sutra:“These demons have their groups of disciples. Each says ofhimself that he has accomplished the Unsurpassed Way.Commentary:These people with a little wisdom who do not cut off their lustare always talking about love and desire. “I love you, you love me,”and they love back and forth until they become demonic. Then whathappens? “These demons have their groups of disciples. Eachsays of himself that he has accomplished the unsurpassed Way.”They, too, will have disciples and protectors. Totally withoutshame, they will loudly pronounce that they have achieved thehighest path. “I’m a Buddha! We are all supreme and unsurpassed!”Basically such people are demons, but they don’t admit to it; theyprofess instead to be Buddhas. You see, there are even phonyBuddhas. But they don’t see themselves as phony; they think theyare for real. They believe :In heaven above, on earth belowI alone am honored.

Sutra:“After my extinction, in the Dharma-ending Age, thesehordes of demons will abound, spreading like wildfire as theyopenly practice greed and lust. Claiming to be good knowingadvisors, they will cause living beings to fall into the pit of loveand views and lose the way to Bodhi.Commentary:Shakyamuni Buddha said, “While I’m in the world, suchdemons will not dare to show themselves, but after my extinction,in the Dharma-ending Age, these hordes of demons willabound.” It is just our present age that is being referred to here,when the Dharma is about to die out. There are simply too many ofthese demons around, going about everywhere discussing sexualdesire. And they themselves revel in lust, be they men or women.At the same time, they think that they are enlightened and havebecome Buddhas.How is it that I recognize such people as these, such as the onewho says he’s a Buddha – we won’t mention any names. He said hewas a Buddha, and I said he was a demon.“Who’s a demon’?” he said.“You are,” I replied. How did I know? He’s just like what’sdescribed here. He’s always talking about emotion and love. “Love,love. I love everybody”’ It’s really shameless. What right do youhave to be in love with everyone? These demons abound,“spreading like wildfire as they openly practice greed and lust.”They’ll be all the rage in the world. Ignorant people will be taken inby them, thinking what they have to say makes sense. It willespecially agree with young people’s way of thinking. As thesaying goes, “persons of similar (atrocious) tastes get together.They praise one another as they go down this road. If they didn’tagree with each other’s ideas, they wouldn’t do that. If people’s14 Volume One – The Three Non-Outflow Studiespaths are not in agreement, they won’t collaborate with one another.But if their thinking is the same, then the blind can lead the blind.How pitiful’ I’m not scolding people here, butIf one who is dazedtransmits the delusion to another,When all is said and done,neither one understands.The teacher falls into the hells,And the disciples burrow in after him.The teacher winds up in the hells, and when his disciples show upthere as well, he is surprised. “How did you get here? This is aterrible place”’“You came first, and you’re our teacher, so of course we wouldfollow you,” they reply.“Claiming to be good knowing advisors”: they boast, “I givelectures all over the place to lots of people.” Ridiculous! “Theywill cause living beings to fall into the pit of love and views andlose the Way to Bodhi.” They cause all they come in contact withto fall into the pit of sexual desire. They forfeit Bodhi and end up inthe hells.

Sutra:“When you teach people in the world to cultivate samadhi,they must first of all sever the mind of lust. This is the first clearand unalterable instruction on purity given by the Thus ComeOnes and the Buddhas of the past, World Honored Ones.Commentary:Demon kings advocate love. The difference between that andthe teaching of a Bodhisattva is ever so slight – like the flip of ahand. In what way is it different? Bodhisattvas also love people, buttheir love is a compassionate and protective kind, devoid of sexualOne Must Cut Off Lust 15desire. But there is a current of lust that runs through everything ademon king says. He openly advocates it, to the point that he saysthat the heavier one’s sexual desire, the higher the level of enlightenmentone can reach. This kind of deviant doctrine harms people.Bodhisattvas have no lust; they do not make distinctions betweenliving beings and themselves. Demons have motives; they aregreedy for things. Bodhisattvas have no ulterior motives and are notgreedy. In regard to this, the Buddha’s teaching explains the twelvecausal conditions.“When you teach people in the world to cultivate samadhi,they must first of all sever the mind of lust. Teach them to cut offtheir thoughts of sexual desire. This is the first clear andunalterable instruction on purity given by the Thus Come Onesand the Buddhas of the Past, World Honored Ones.” This is themethod of teaching used by the Thus Come Ones. It is theresolution of all the Buddhas of the past. This is clear instructionthat teaches people how to be pure. One must cut off lust. This is afixed principle. It is not the least bit flexible. It’s not to say that onecan have lust or not have it. One must get rid of it. If you want to beenlightened and also hold on to your thoughts of lust, then youcertainly will join the retinue of demons.

Sutra:“Therefore, Ananda, if cultivators of Ch’an samadhi do notcut off lust, they will be like someone who cooks sand in thehope of getting rice. After hundreds of thousands of aeons, itwill still be just hot sand. Why? It wasn’t rice to begin with; itwas only sand.Commentary:You see, now he brings up an analogy. He tells Ananda, “Youdon’t believe it, so I’ll explain the principle for you. Therefore,Ananda, if cultivators of Ch’an samadhi do not cut off lust, theywill be like someone who cooks sand in the hope of getting rice.”If one does not sever sexual desire and yet cultivates and meditatesevery day, then one will cultivate on the one hand, and haveoutflows on the other. Everything one gains will be dissipated.Whatever one gains in cultivation will be lost tenfold in outflows;if one cultivates ten times as much, one will lose a hundred times asmuch in outflows. Unable to renounce sexual desire, one still sits inmeditation with the hope of getting enlightened, with the aim ofgetting a little upside-down bliss. This is just like cooking sand inthe hope of getting rice. “After hundreds of thousands of aeons,it will still be just hot sand. It’s useless. Why? It wasn’t rice tobegin with; it was only sand. You expect to become enlightenedwithout giving up sexual desire? It’s the same as expecting to getrice from sand.”There’s something else to be said here. If you can sever sexualdesire, then even if you are together with the opposite sex all daylong, there will be no problem. There won’t be any sexual desire,any appearance of male or female, any appearance of people, ofself, of living beings, or of a lifespan. Some people know no shameand say, “That’s the way I am.” To just say you’re that way isn’tenough. There’s no proof. How do you know you’re that way? Ifyou were that way, you basically wouldn’t recognize that you were.You couldn’t have the idea that you didn’t have any sexual desire.If you don’t, you simply don’t. You wouldn’t go around advertisingit. That just shows that you really aren’t that way. If you really don’thave any sexual desire, thenThe eyes see forms appear,but inside there is nothing.The ears hear defiling sounds,but the mind does not know of them.No matter how pleasing a sound the ear picks up, your mind isunaware of it. Then you’ve got a little going for you. And then ifyou can reach the point that you can walk, sit, and lie down togetherwith someone of the opposite sex without there being any incident– any arisal of thoughts of sexual desire – and really have there beOne Must Cut Off Lust 17none – that will count. It’s not to say that your mind still races butyou grit your teeth and say firmly, “I can take it.” That doesn’tcount. It has to be that not one thought arises-the mind does notmove, that there basically is no trace of lust in your heart. That’sgenuine. If you occasionally are still aware of what women ate allabout, then you’ve failed the test.Once there was someone who got enlightened and went to seekcertification from his teacher. “What enlightenment have youopened?” his teacher asked.His reply was, “Oh, before I never realized it, but now I knowthat bhikshunis are women.” His teacher checked him out with theBuddha Eye and saw that indeed he was enlightened. “You’re allright,” he said in certification.“Who doesn’t know that?” you say.If you weren’t enlightened, you wouldn’t even say that much. Itwas because he had awakened that he voiced that observation. Thisis not something you can cheat people with – especially since histeacher had the Buddha Eye open. He looked at him and knew thathe had realized the first fruition of Arhatship.

Sutra:“If you seek the Buddha’s wonderful fruition and still havephysical lust, then even if you attain a wonderful awakening, itwill be based in lust. With lust at the source, you will revolve inthe three paths and not be able to get out. Which road will youtake to cultivate and be certified to the Thus Come One’sNirvana?Commentary:The Buddha said to Ananda, “Your fondness for Matangi’sdaughter not only involved thoughts of lust; you still had physicallust, as well. If you see the Buddha’s wonderful fruition and stillhave physical lust, then even if you attain a wonderfulawakening, it will be based in lust. Although you may attain thesubtle principles at the heart of it, you still have not gotten rid of the18 Volume One – The Three Non-Outflow Studiesroots of lust. With lust at the source, you will revolve in theThree Paths and not be able to get out. In the future you willcertainly fall into the hells. The “Three Paths” are those of animals,hungry ghosts, and beings in the hells. And you will just revolve inthese three and be unable to leave them. Which road will you taketo cultivate and be certified to the Thus Come One’s Nirvana?Which of these paths will lead you to that fruition?

Sutra:“You must cut off the lust which is intrinsic in both bodyand mind. Then get rid of even the aspect of cutting it off. Atthat point you have some hope of attaining the Buddha’s Bodhi.Commentary:“You must cut off the lust which is intrinsic in both body andmind. You definitely must get rid of the most subtle and fine, themost infinitesimal single thought of lust. That just means thatignorance itself must go. It must be done both physically andmentally. Then get rid of even the aspect of cutting it off. Youcannot even be aware of having cut it off. At that point you havesome hope of attaining the Buddha’s Bodhi.

Sutra:“What I have said here is the Buddha’s teaching. Anyexplanation counter to it is the teaching of Papiyan.Commentary:“What I have said here is the Buddha’s teaching. This is theway the Buddhas explain the Dharma. Any explanation counter toit is thc teaching of Papiyan, methods taught by a demon king.“Papiyan” is a Sanskrit term that means “evil one” and refers toMara, the demon king.People who come to listen to the Sutras must certainly be ableto see. The blind cannot come to hear the Sutras, nor can the deaf ordumb. The more the people come to hear, the smarter they get.Everyone should open his eye of genuine wisdom and truly turn theorgan of the ear back to the self-nature. Do not seek outside.

Relax LL; if you are aiming at Buddhist Tantra, you are underinformed. All the best lamas say that using tantra for ordinary sex acts will send one to hell quickly. Yes, the practice is abused, but the correct practice is not like ordinary sex at all.

Having said that, I agree that the Shurangama's practice is better and safer for 97% of us.

Basically, there is not even one buddha, only great wisdom. Bodhisattva Hsuan Hua

Just making it clear to people man. And to whoever thinks enlightenment via sex is the way. There seems to be some people here on this forum who are still confused about that. So just to make it clear.

NAMO AMITABHANAM MO A DI DA PHAT (VIETNAMESE)NAMO AMITUOFO (CHINESE)Bodhidharma [my translation]―I come to the East to transmit this clear knowing mind without constructing any dharma―